


rearrange the alphabet

by Aurum



Category: Dallas Stars RPF, Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 10:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2808899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurum/pseuds/Aurum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Apparently Jamie's soulmate likes awful pick-up lines. It both is and isn't as bad as it sounds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	rearrange the alphabet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mlle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlle/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide, mlle! I hope you enjoy this gift :)
> 
> Inspired by [flossingh's posts](http://flossingh.tumblr.com/tagged/soulbonding-au/chrono) about all kinds of soulmate discovery types in one AU, only I pretty much took one thing and ran with it onto a field of ridic fluff.

Jamie's pretty sure he's never going to meet his soulmate. It's not that big of a deal.

At least not to him – everyone else looks at him like he's crazy just because he's not running around looking for a person who could very well live on another continent.

Maybe it would be different if he didn't already have Jordie. Everyone says sibling bonds are different, and you don't need telepathy to know they mean _worse_ , but Jamie can't see how it could get any better than what he has.

Even though at this point they're basically tamping it down to just awareness without even thinking about it (because there are things you never want to see, hear, or _feel_ your brother doing) the fact that it's there, that they can always tap into it, that it's going to be there as long as they want it to – it's plenty enough.

But there are moments (mostly when Jamie's been hanging out with bonded pairs for too long) when he regrets never getting to _meet_ his soulmate. Because more than actually having a soulmate, everyone's always freaking out about the first moment, how exhilarating, how magical it is to meet the person destined for you.

Jamie never got to have that part. His brother was there from the beginning.

Jordie likes to tell the story about how his world flooded with color the day Jamie was born, but he was two years old then and he's full of shit now. Though, what does Jamie know, maybe it really is a thing you just don't forget. Jordie seems to really believe it.

So yeah, Jamie would kind of like to know that. And it should be easy for him, technically, since his other bond is pretty much the best kind, manifesting in the first words he's supposed to hear from his soulmate written on his skin. Only he's still not entirely sure if his tattoo isn't some kind of a joke.

For most of his teenage years, he was half-convinced Jordie was behind it somehow, but he's had it since he can remember, and he's pretty sure not even Jordie could get away with dragging his baby brother to the tattoo parlor to get him a fake soulmate tattoo. Also his brother isn't quite that much of a dick. Still, that's sometimes easier to believe than being soulmates with someone who says things like _that_. Or that anyone would ever say that to Jamie.

So no, he's not expecting his perfect Hollywood moment of getting the worst pick-up line anytime soon. Or ever.

*

Jamie may have underestimated the mystical powers of soulmates and/or how much the universe wants to fuck with him.

He's in pretty much the only bar he ever lets Jordie drag him to, making his way through the crowd around the bar and questioning the wisdom of buying drinks for Val at the same time, when it happens. There's movement in his periphery, someone sliding along the bar and closer to him. Jamie almost flattens himself on the bar, trying to block the view of the newcomer, because like hell he's getting more competition for the bartender's attention. It's not like Jamie had much of a chance against the group of girls on the other end of the bar anyway, but he would like to get the drinks sometime this hour.

He considers elbowing the person sliding into his personal bubble, which may have the added benefit of getting people to look in their direction, when he hears: "Heeey, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

Jamie freezes, all thoughts of drinks forgotten, and slowly turns his head. The guy's smiling kind of dopily, definitely well on his way to drunk, but he's looking straight at Jamie, not over his shoulder or anywhere else.

He's also fucking gorgeous, even in a snapback and a loose tank top. (And it's not like Jamie has a higher ground here. The only reason he's wearing a shirt without a ripped collar is because Jordie wrestled him into it.) He's got tattoos down his arm and Jamie would love to pay them more attention if only he could tear his eyes away from the guy's face for more than a second.

"Are you fucking kidding me," he blurts out, and immediately wants to kick himself. It's probably not what it seems, but it still would be nice not to blow what little chance he has with an interested person within three seconds.

The guy's mouth drops open. Jamie opens his own to apologize and probably make even more of a fool of himself, but the guy beats him to it.

"Holy shit," he says, blinking a few times. "Holy– wow, dude, are you. Are you my soulmate?"

"Uh," Jamie says. This may in fact be what it seems to be: the worst soulmate meeting in history. "I guess?"

The dude sweeps his eyes over Jamie, like he needs to make sure he's really standing there. Jamie knows the feeling. "Wow," he repeats. "This is so great. You're so great. Wanna make out?"

Jamie's sure he's blushing. And shit, it's not even that he doesn't want to, but the guy is kind of drunk, definitely more than Jamie, and this is probably not how it's supposed to go. He'd really like to stop fucking this up.

The guy grabs his sleeve, as if there's any real danger of Jamie walking away. "Or not! We don't have to make out. We can cuddle?"

He actually gives Jamie puppy-dog eyes. Jamie feels like he's losing what little control of the situation he had at any point. "Cuddle?"

"Yeah! I've got a booth?"

*

He really has a booth. The table is full of empty bottles, but there's nobody there at the moment, which Jamie is thankful for. Especially when he slides into the booth and the guy slides sideways into his lap.

Jamie feels more than a little awkward, but the dude just curls over him, pressing his face into Jamie's neck, and it's not like Jamie can just throw him off to escape. It's not like he wants to. So he puts his arms around the guy's waist and just breathes, trying to relax.

After a few minutes he's surprised at how well that works. There's a wave of wonder and contentment washing away his panic, and it takes him a moment to realize it's not his. Or – it wasn't, but there's definitely some emotional bleed-through from Tyler happening.

Except that means they really are soulmates, holy shit. Jamie, well, he didn't truly believe it until right now, but it's definitely Tyler laughing in his head and – yeah.

The rational course of action would be to back off a little, not hurtle into this without even talking to his soulmate for more than a minute. This feels a lot better than being rational, though.

Tyler lifts his head and grins at Jamie. "Hey there," he says. Jamie smiles right back at him, helplessly.

This is the point when two fratbros, by the look of them, stumble into the table, rattling the bottles and making Jamie jump a little. Tyler clutches his shoulder a little tighter. One of the guys continues on to the bar; the other slides into their booth.

"Brownie!" says Tyler, flapping his hand at the newcomer. "Look who I found! This is Jamie."

Brownie grunts something and nods, more concerned with finding a non-empty bottle of beer on the table.

Tyler frowns at him. "No, dude. This is _my Jamie_."

Jamie realizes he never actually told him his name. _Tyler_ hasn't introduced himself either, but Jamie knows his birthday and the name of his dog.

Brownie seems to finally notice them properly. "Oh hey, congrats man!" he says, extending his hand for fistbumps. Jamie has to take his hand from under Tyler's t-shirt, where it ended up of its own volition.

"Brownie is my bromate," Tyler explains. "He's also leaving, yeah?"

The guy blinks at them for a moment, but catches on pretty quickly. "Oh, yeah, sure, let me just..." He finds some beer, lets out a triumphant noise and salutes them with the bottle. "'k, I'm out."

Tyler catches Jamie's hand, which has been hovering over his hip. "So, I'll show you mine if you show me yours?" he says, looking a little shy for the first time.

Jamie feels himself flushing a no doubt horrible shade of red, and okay, soulmates or not, Jamie would rather not get thrown out of the bar. "Uh," he says, most intelligently, except he can feel Tyler laughing at him even before he actually chuckles.

"The tattoo, you dork," he says, pressing their foreheads together for a moment.

"Oh, um, sure." That he can do. He lifts his hand and twists it a little to reveal his inner forearm and the tiny scrawl stretching from his elbow almost to his wrist. It's always been its one saving grace – the fact that you can't really make out the words until you're pretty close. He doesn't mind Tyler getting close, though.

Tyler trails his fingers over the words, leaving goosebumps on his skin. He looks at it silently until Jamie grows a little restless, then he shoots him a smile and reaches for his hand. Jamie's been looking forward to examining Tyler's sleeves in more detail, but Tyler brings Jamie's hand under his shirt, over his abs (which, wow), to curl it over his ribs.

At Tyler's encouraging look, Jamie rucks up his shirt more and sure enough, there's his own chicken scratch spelling out "Are you fucking kidding me?" in two lines. He knew there would be, but seeing it still feels a little like a punch to the gut. Jamie sucks in a breath and strokes the tattoo with his thumb.

He looks up, finally, worried he's being a creep, but Tyler's still smiling down at him. "Uh, sorry about that," Jamie says, a little sheepish.

Tyler shrugs. "It's okay." Then his smile turns a little sly. "Got some false starts with it, though. Maybe you could make it up to me?"

"How?"

"We could make out now?" Tyler says and breaks out into a grin, probably sure he's going to get what he wants.

Jamie's soulmate, ladies and gentlemen. He laughs, helplessly charmed. "Yeah, okay," he says.

Tyler doesn't waste anymore time, he just leans in and kisses him. Jamie didn't know what to expect, but with Tyler being Tyler fireworks seemed pretty likely. Instead it's... actually, it's a lot like that moment in the movies where the soulmates kiss for the first time, the world slows down and the music swells. (Jamie's seen a lot of those, because for some reason Jordie really likes them. Not even ironically – he's not fooling anyone. And now Jamie can't make as much fun of them anymore, which is just tragic.) It's not tentative, but it's careful, and the thing – the _bond_ – is starting to bloom, open up like a flower, one petal at a time.

Tyler leans back and mock-glares at him. "Less thinking, more kissing," he says.

Jamie's happy to oblige.

*

Naturally, this is how Jordie finds them – locked at the lips. His timing is either the best or the worst, because Tyler's moved to straddle Jamie at some point and things were definitely veering into a territory less suited for a public venue.

"Well, well, well," Jordie says, standing over them with his hands crossed, smirking behind his beard. "I was worried you got lost on the way back from the bar, but I see you just abandoned us."

He unsubtly elbows Val, who's peering out from behind him. Val shoots him a wide-eyed look but obediently turns to Jamie. "You're a shitty wingman," he recites, clearly coached by Jordie just moments ago. Jordie even pats him on the shoulder, looking proud.

Jamie tries to make his unimpressed face, but he loses some impact with one hand still groping Tyler's abs. Possibly that's also why he can feel that Tyler's nervous, even if he doesn't look like it. He just smiles widely and extends his hand. "I guess that's my fault. Hey, I'm Tyler. You must be Jordie."

Jordie raises his eyebrows at Jamie, but shakes Tyler's hand. "Yeah. And this one here is Val. He's the one who lost a wingman."

Tyler just grins wider and reaches around Jordie to offer Val a fistbump. "Sorry about that."

He's not really sorry. Neither is Jamie.

He probably does need to explain, though, because Jordie's still boring holes into him with his eyes. He doesn't want to put it into words, not yet, but thankfully he doesn't have to. He looks down at his forearm and opens up to Jordie.

He's not even sure what he's giving off, but it must be a lot. Jordie adds some confusion, skepticism, wonder, joy, then seems to settle around fond amusement. Jamie's grateful for the bond, because he never would've got all that from behind the beard.

"Well then," says Jordie, throwing his arm around Val's neck, "I guess I'm crashing with you tonight, buddy." He turns to Tyler. "And I'll be seeing more of you."

Jamie's about to snort at his attempt at the protective older brother act, but Tyler nods seriously and says: "For sure."

Jordie applies some more of his patented threatening squint and finally leaves, taking a very confused Val with him. Jamie will have to make it up to the kid, but it's hard to feel bad now that Tyler's shuffling closer and trailing a hand down Jamie's chest.

Jordie slams their bond shut pointedly.

"So," Tyler says, "I was going to ask Brownie to sleep somewhere else tonight, but since your brother already sexiled himself..."

Jamie grins and draws him down. "I have my own room anyway," he says between kisses.

"Good, that's... good." Tyler drags himself away from Jamie's mouth, but doesn't go far. He puts his hands on Jamie's face and stares into his eyes intensely. Jamie's about to open his mouth when– _Should we go use it, then?_

Tyler didn't even move his lips. Jamie's mouth drops open anyway as he stares at him in wonder. "Yeah," he breathes after a moment, and concentrates. _Yes, let's do that._

*

The next morning, in another display of great timing, Jordie walks in on Jamie and Tyler making out in kitchen.

"We eat here!" he says instead of a greeting, scandalized.

Jamie's been helping his own sweatpants slide down Tyler's hips, but he snatches his hands back guiltily. "Um, hi Jordie."

Tyler waves, unconcerned about his state of undress, presses another quick kiss to Jamie's lips and makes a strategic exit, heading for his room. Jamie's not sure if being left alone with Jordie is in his best interest right now, but his brother just shakes his head and sighs.

"Can I at least eat some breakfast before you two start up again? Val literally has just ketchup in his kitchen, the kid needs help."

Jamie opens his mouth to say of course, but his new bond snaps to attention and he's abruptly pretty sure that Tyler's about to start without him. Jordie groans and makes a grab at the toast they haven't managed to eat before they got distracted earlier.

"You don't need to go out," Jamie says, a bit weakly.

"I really do," Jordie replies through a mouthful of toast. "And _you_ need to learn how to separate two bonds."

"Oh god." He can feel himself blushing even more and tries to hide behind his hands.

"Hey, no, none of that," Jordie says and gathers him into a bear hug, because he never met a problem he couldn't cuddle into submission. (Come to think of it, he and Tyler have a lot in common.) Jamie relaxes after a moment.

Jordie pats him on his back. "You've got time." And because he's the best brother ever, he just takes two more pieces of toast and leaves with an aborted wave.

He's right though – they really need to work on managing the bond. Not least because last night they stumbled into the apartment, got some nice grinding against the wall on the way to his room, and barely managed to get horizontal before they got caught in a feedback loop and it was all over before it really began. They gave up for the night after the third time.

Hopefully a night of spooning in his bed helped stabilize the bond. He's looking forward to the testing.

And yeah, Jamie knows better than to think it's all going to be sunshine and orgasms, and probably not everything can be figured out through liberal application of cock, but it's as good a place to start as any.

It's not like the process is going to be a hardship. And maybe the best thing is that they've got time.

_Not if you want in on this round._

Jamie smiles and runs to his bedroom, ready to begin.


End file.
